Consumer Stocks Go From Leaders to Laggards

Retail stocks' weakness suggests the consumer is tapped out, which is a bad portent for the overall market.

Consumer-related sectors of the stock market, including retail, were among the leaders over the past year but that party is now over. And it does not bode well for both the market and the economy.

It started in April and May when the consumer-staples sector peaked, in both relative and absolute terms (see Getting Technical, "The Bull Market's Last Stand?" April 17). Since then, the Select Sector SPDR-Consumer Staples...